Writing In The Exam

Useful expressions for certain writing tasks Application (Bewerbung) I am writing to apply for the position of…., which I saw advertised in the …. /name of the newspaper) on … (date). I completed my “Realschulabschluss” at the Realschule … . I have experience in … For the last …. years I have worked as a …. (job you had). I speak …. (which foreign languages?) I also attended a course in … (which one?). I would welcome the opportunity to talk further with you about the position you would like to fill.

Request (Anfrage)

Language course Could you send me the details of your courses? Is accommodation provided at your language centre? How much is the fee for …. (e.g. an intermediate course in English)?

Brochures

I saw your advertisement for …. (name of product) in … (name of newspaper, etc., …) and would like to get some further information. Could you please send me your brochures? I look forward to hearing from you.

Lost Property Office

I lost my…. (what did you loose?). It could have happened in …. (place, where you might have lost it) on … (date). It is … (detailed description: e.g. brand, colour material, size, …). If anyone has handed it in I would be very grateful if you sent it to my address in Germany. Of course I will cover the costs.

Complaint (Beschwerde)

I am writing about … (what? e.g. the service in your shoe-shop). Personally, I feel … (you opinion: e.g. that customers should be treated differently). Obviously, … (reason for complaint, e.g. your staff was more interested in discussing the latest scandals in town, than in helping me.)

Booking a room

I would like to book a room … (what kind of room? e.g. a double room) We intend to stay for ….. (how many nights?) Have you got any vacancies between …. (date) and …. (date)?

Booking tickets

We would like to see … (name of event) on …. (date). Are there still tickets available for that date? Please let me know/ tell me if I can pay by credit card.

Useful linking devices for your guided writing

Purpose (Nutzen)

What you want to do with it!

Time Wenn du einen zeitlichen Aspekt einbringen möchtest Sequence Wenn man Dinge an einander reihen will. Addition Wenn man etwas anfügen will Cause/Reason “Wenn man etwas begründen möchte Result Wenn man über ein Ergebnis schreiben möchte. Comparison “Wenn man etwas vergleichen will” Contrast Wenn etwas einander gegenüberstellen will. Concession Um etwas einzuräumen oder jemand entgegenzukommen. Conclusion/Summary Um zu einem Ergebnis zu kommen. Paraphrase Um etwas mit anderen Worten auszudrücken. Illustration/Exemplification Um etwas zu belegen oder um Beispiele zu bringen.

Wenn du sicher gehen willst, wie man die “Linking Devices” richtig anwendet kannst du auf der Seite des British National Corpus nutzen: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/ Hier tippst du die entsprechende Formulierung einfach in das Feld neben „Look up“ und klickst dann den „go button“. Kurz drauf wirst du viele mögliche Beispiele bekommen, die das von dir eingegebene „Linking Device“ im Kontext aufzeigen.

Linking words

Die dick gedruckten Wörter sind Standardverbindungen, die nicht extra positive bewertet werden. Achte darauf, dass du möglichst viele der restlichen „Linking Devices“ anwenden kannst. afterwards, as soon, as, before, meanwhile, then, until, after a few hours to begin with, at the beginning, in the beginning, as a start, first, … second, … third, then, next, before, after, afterwards, as soon as last, finally, at the end, in the end and, as well as, besides, furthermore, also, moreover, in addition, not only … but also Because, as, since, this is why, due to, for this reason

So, as a result, therefore, as a consequence also, in comparison, similarly but, although, even though, in contrast, however, whereas, on the one hand/ on the other hand, neither … nor naturally, of course, yet, still, however, although, nevertheless

on the whole, therefore, so, in brief, summing up, in conclusion in other words, that is to say, to put it another was

For example, for instance, to illustrate, that is, namely, such as

Task: Look at the Linking devices at the bottom of the page an put them in the correct boxes

Purpose (Nutzen) What you want to do with it!

Linking words

Die dick gedruckten Wörter sind Standardverbindungen, die nicht extra positive bewertet werden. Achte darauf, dass du möglichst viele der restlichen „Linking Devices“ anwenden kannst.

Time Wenn du einen zeitlichen Aspekt einbringen möchtest Sequence Wenn man Dinge an einander reihen will. Addition Wenn man etwas anfügen will Cause/Reason “Wenn man etwas begründen möchte Result Wenn man über ein Ergebnis schreiben möchte. Comparison “Wenn man etwas vergleichen will” Contrast Wenn etwas einander gegenüberstellen will. Concession Um etwas einzuräumen oder jemand entgegenzukommen. Conclusion/Summary Um zu einem Ergebnis zu kommen. Paraphrase Um etwas mit anderen Worten auszudrücken. Illustration/Exemplification Um etwas zu belegen oder um Beispiele zu bringen.

afterwards, in other words, to begin with, as soon, as, before, meanwhile, therefore, since, then, until, after a few hours, due to, this is why, namely, at the beginning, similarly, nevertheless, in the beginning, in comparison, before, in conclusion, as a start, first, … second, … third, that is, such as, then, next, after, afterwards, as soon as last, finally, even though, at the end, in the end, and, as well as, although, besides, furthermore, also, in contrast, moreover, in brief, in addition, not only … but also, because, as, since, this is why, neither … nor, for this reason, because, as, due to, for this reason, summing up, so, as a result, therefore, as a consequence, for instance, to illustrate, also, but, however, whereas, on the one hand/ on the other hand, naturally, of course, yet, still, however, although, on the whole, so, that is to say, to put it another was, for example